Image courtesy of Sally Walker

From: Sally Walker
Christchurch, New Zealand, October 7, 2008

Christchurch, New Zealand

Landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, one of the world's windiest airports, is unforgettable. Snowcapped Southern Alps, braided streams criss-cross the landscape amidst a patchwork quilt of green pastures, and a ragged and beautiful coastline stretch before you. New Zealand is one of the World's most active mountain-building regions, located at the boundary between the colliding Australian and Pacific Plates which is responsible for this beautiful vista.

Serious weather conditions delayed my immediate departure to Antarctica, so I explored Christchurch, visiting Sir Ernst Rutherford's lab where he conducted his first experiments with electricity and magnetism. As depicted in the postcard, the City Center has a gorgeous Anglican Church built in 1862. Nearby is the River Avon draped by graceful willows and surrounded by planted beds of early spring flowers. Christchurch, the Garden City, is important: it provides scientists and other workers their last view of colorful trees and flowers before departing for the stark white landscape of Antarctica.

New Zealand geologic history

Rutherford's Lab

The Antarctic

Go to the next postcard

Postcards from the Field: Polar Fossil Mysteries

You might also be interested in:

Cool It! Game

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Wind

Wind is moving air. Warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. This movement creates different pressures in the atmosphere which creates the winds around the globe. Since the Earth spins,...more

The Antarctic Region

What Will You Find There? South of the Antarctic Circle (at 66.5°S latitude) you will find the continent of Antarctica surrounded by the Southern Ocean, the geographic South Pole and the magnetic South...more

Electricity and Magnetism

Electricity and magnetism are two closely related and very important topics within the science of physics. We use electricity to power computers and to make motors go. Magnetism makes a compass point North...more

Christchurch, New Zealand

Landing in Christchurch, New Zealand, one of the world's windiest airports, is unforgettable. Snowcapped Southern Alps, braided streams criss-cross the landscape amidst a patchwork quilt of green pastures,...more

Clothing Distribution Center, United States Antarctic Program

I live near Atlanta, Georgia, where "CDC" means the Center for Disease Control. In Christchurch, "CDC" means the Clothing Distribution Center for the United States Antarctic Program. At this Center, workers...more

Boarding U.S. Airforce C-17 Globemaster III

Finally the fax arrived that weather conditions in Antarctica had improved dramatically, and our flight was scheduled for noon on October 10. On that day, we hurried to the CDC, donned our Extreme Cold...more

Flight over Southern Ocean

With the brakes retooled, we were finally ready for take off in the C-17. Take off was amazing, despite all the noise generated by the massive engines (we had to wear ear plugs or headphones): I was pushed...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA